Did Happy Mondays take their name from Blue Monday ?!?!

I believe that they once confirmed it. Also read it in a book about where bands got their names.

I thought it was Happy Mondays because they got their dole cheques on Mondays?

According to google Bez said on Celeb Big Brother that it was after the Boomtown Rats' I don't like Mondays. I'd heard it was after Blue Monday, can't remember where. What would Bez know anyway?.

Hank Wiseass© wrote: According to google Bez said on Celeb Big Brother that it was after the Boomtown Rats' I don't like Mondays. I'd heard it was after Blue Monday, can't remember where. What would Bez know anyway?.

Exactly. Bless Bez but he really hasnt got much between his ears. He thought it was to do with Boomtown Prats but obviously didnt care less where the band name came from.

Agree so strongly with Al Jarvis about this sudden fondness for putting THE DEFINITIVE ARTICLE in front of bands nanes that DO NOT HAVE THE DEFINITIVE ARTICLE in front of them - like Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Doves, etc. In the case of the latter, there WAS a late 80's/early 90s band called THE Doves (who allegedly were once called The THRASHING Doves before they realised how fooking stupid that name sounded), which was probably why Jimi, Jez and Andy decided to NOT have the definitive article in their name to avoid confusion. But of course, these days t's incredibly trendy to have THE in front of your name followed by a single (rather pretentious) word afterwards, e.g. The Bravery, The Collapse, The Music....

I've seen everybody - and journos - all doing this continually and it really bugs me. I know Tony Wilson probably started it by referring to them as "The" Happy Mondays but then he was always a tosser anyway.

In all likelihood Happy Mondays decided on their name probably as a sort of sarcastic joke - it may have also been PARTLY inspired by "Blue Monday" but who knows?

Al Jarvis wrote: See also: Doves, Pixies, although I can't say either without adding 'the' infront.

Me neither.

By 'Eck! My Neck! wrote: Agree so strongly with Al Jarvis about this sudden fondness for putting THE DEFINITIVE ARTICLE in front of bands nanes that DO NOT HAVE THE DEFINITIVE ARTICLE in front of them - like Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Super Furry Animals, Manic Street Preachers, Doves, etc. In the case of the latter, there WAS a late 80's/early 90s band called THE Doves (who allegedly were once called The THRASHING Doves before they realised how fooking stupid that name sounded), which was probably why Jimi, Jez and Andy decided to NOT have the definitive article in their name to avoid confusion. But of course, these days t's incredibly trendy to have THE in front of your name followed by a single (rather pretentious) word afterwards, e.g. The Bravery, The Collapse, The Music....

I've seen everybody - and journos - all doing this continually and it really bugs me. I know Tony Wilson probably started it by referring to them as "The" Happy Mondays but then he was always a tosser anyway.

In all likelihood Happy Mondays decided on their name probably as a sort of sarcastic joke - it may have also been PARTLY inspired by "Blue Monday" but who knows?

i saw the thrashing doves, had the first album & loved the single beautiful imbalance. they also had a bit of a club hit with a remix of jesus on the payroll. & yeah, they dropped the "thrashing" part of their name.

a recent band that have dropped the "the" is delays, who started as the delays, but again are hard to say in conversation without adding the "the" in front of their name

Matt Johnson must have thought of The The before the days of internet searches. They just can't be Googled!

Al Jarvis wrote:

See also: Doves, Pixies, although I can't say either without adding 'the' infront.

asking someone if they like doves or pixies sounds a bit awkward. birds and mischievous fairies?

I love The New Order.

BIGINOIL wrote: Matt Johnson must have thought of The The before the days of internet searches. They just can't be Googled!

well they did form in 1979...

tried using speech marks around the name?

check out this band on allmusic.com

shurely some mistake?

Old Blue wrote: I thought it was Happy Mondays because they got their dole cheques on Mondays?

You are exactly right. That is the origin of their name.

This is not what Shaun Ryder comes up with on the Live at Barcelona DVD. Having said that, I doubt he can even remember.

I believe the term "Happy Mondays" it to do with a certain drug you take at the weekend which has a lasting effect on the monday. And as the lot of them (Shaun, Bez) are into that shit, it would make sense them having the name "Happy Mondays".

Old Blue wrote: I thought it was Happy Mondays because they got their dole cheques on Mondays?

That's what I was always led to believe as well.

And "Doves" are named after a particularly favoured ecstacy "brand".....